In this episode of our Breeders' Cup Breakthrough series, we check in with trainer Dan Blacker, who earned his first Breeders' Cup win with Straight No Chaser. Now, the talented sprinter is on track for a return trip to Del Mar and Blacker is hoping that together, they can repeat history.
00:00They're off in the Breeders' Cup sprint, and it is Straight No Chaser, straight to the front.
00:08Straight No Chaser, third outside of them with three furlongs to go.
00:12Straight No Chaser joins the fray on the outside with one furlong to run.
00:16Straight No Chaser and Ben Fernando, Straight No Chaser in the Breeders' Cup sprint!
00:22To start out with four very modest claiming horses and to work at it and push and put all the time in that we have into it and end up winning a Breeders' Cup, it was vindicating.
00:42I grew up on a farm in rural England and I was around horses from an early age.
00:49It was almost in my destiny to follow a path and be involved in horses for my career.
00:56I remember watching the Breeders' Cup and when Richard Mandela won four Breeders' Cup races in one day, still to this day I think it's probably the greatest Breeders' Cup achievement of all time.
01:07I worked in France and that's where I met Gary Stevens who was at the time in France and he kind of put the idea in my head of one day coming to California and working for Richard Mandela.
01:19I've been really lucky to travel all around America doing this job and came back to California to start up on my own in 2012.
01:27It's just been a grind and I won't sugarcoat it, it's been hard.
01:33Year after year I just build up the numbers, build up the quality of the barn.
01:38Straight No Chaser came about and we were fortunate enough.
01:41This horse was super talented and got him to a point where he's a Breeders' Cup container and to go and win one was very vindicating.
01:52I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous than I was and I think it was the fact that the horse just gave me so much confidence that week.
01:59It was surreal. We got a good post position, we were outside, that's where I wanted to be. The race shaped up like how I thought it would, it could do optimally for us and everything just worked out.
02:14We were in a big group of people on those bleachers right in front of the grandstand on the apron and we all went nuts after he passed the wire.
02:25Coming down to the line together, Straight No Chaser and Ben Tronado, Straight No Chaser in the Raiders' Cup sprint.
02:32So happy to have my family there, my wife and my children and that's what makes this game so special is to share those moments, the wins and with all these people and that's what's so unique about training for my race horse as well.
02:46You're not training for one owner, you're training for 900. Building up to that point, it was all worth it and hopefully more to come.
02:54More to come. I think that's been the goal all year was to try and come back to running the Breeders' Cup again.
03:01But this horse, he doesn't know us anything. He's achieved so much and cemented his legacy now.
03:09I just want to do it for the horse really. He's a great horse and I want him to prove it again and give all the partners that have been so patient another fun experience.
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